Kiwi Redux It is, I believe, a surprise to many
New Zealanders, as to most of us in their Antipodes, to know that the kiwi, which has become a sort of national symbol, is not extinct nor now likely to become extinct. It has been successfully bred, after considerable search for a prolific pair, in the Game Farm of the Acclimatisation Society at Hawkes Bay. The bird, which is virtually wingless, is only less curious and interesting than the Australian platypus. After several years, in which the eggs failed to hatch, the eggs began to increase in size till they reached 1 lb. in weight, and from two of these chicks were hatched, of which one survives, flourishes and has been much photographed. The bird is a very slow developer—certainly does not reach maturity under four years—and the incubation period is ten or eleven weeks. It is thought that its expecta- tion of life is about 25 years. Among several rather surprising discoveries is the fact that the whole of the laborious task of incubation, which (since there is an interval in the laying of the eggs) may last a goal twelve weeks, is undertaken 17.y the cock bird, as with our " goat-sucker.'
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